BEHIND THE SCENES! Lauren’s Lyrical Hip-Hop About Abuse On ‘SYTYCD’ Was Brilliant — But Hit A Little Too Close To Home

18-year-old Lauren Froderman stole the show with her emotional performance on So You Think You Can Dance, but she told us the sad story of why she never wants to do it again

Whoa — talk about a sob session.Lauren Froderman and All-Star Dominic Sandoval‘s heart-wrenching portrayal of an abusive relationship on So You Think You Can Dance last night, June 23, took season seven of Fox’s hit reality show to a much deeper level.

The lyrical hip-hop routine, which was choreographed by new SYTYCD member Tessandra Chavez to Beyonce‘s ‘If I Were A Boy,’ was the stand out performance of the night thanks to 18-year-old Lauren’s realistic portrayal of a girl being abused. But even though judge Adam Shankman praised the normally bubbly blond for becoming “an actor,” Lauren told us she wasn’t actually acting at all.

“I don’t know how much of that is true because actually, this dance was really personal for me. It was real emotion,” she revealed to reporters backstage after the show. “In a way it was really me, and I was really sharing my pain with everybody and hoping that they would accept that.”

Not only did the judges (and the audience) accept Lauren’s pain — they praised her for one of the strongest performances of the evening, which was something the choreographer, Tessandra, didn’t expect only one day before.

Tessandra told HollywoodLife.com exclusively Lauren wasn’t bringing it in rehearsals and was completely devoid of all emotion — what she didn’t realize was how sensitive the topic of abuse is in Lauren’s personal life. It was only after the dancer had a mini-breakdown Tuesday, June 22, that she allowed her pent-up frustration and sadness to emote through her performance.

Watch the video to catch the rest of Lauren’s telling interview. What dance did you like most last night?